Cung Le, who is a Vietnamese-American, believes China is is open for the UFC to make inroads with their product. / Kin Cheung, AP

by John Morgan, USA TODAY Sports

by John Morgan, USA TODAY Sports

MACAU -- When Ultimate Fighting Championship made its first stop in China in 2012, the promotion was able to put one Chinese fighter on the card. On Saturday night, four of the country's athletes will set foot inside the cage at The Venetian Macau's CotaiArena.

Veteran Middleweight Cung Le, who recently served as a mentor on The Ultimate Fighter: China, believes it's a sign of what's to come.

"A lot of these Chinese athletes are just as good as any other athletes around the world," Le tells USA TODAY Sports. "They get picked from a big batch. These are the top-notch guys, and the only thing they're missing is coaching. ... There are some camps, but the fighters haven't really been getting the experience that they need. Now that the UFC is coming in, these fighters are going to want to be a part of the UFC, and they're going to figure out where everybody is training."

Like many other global companies, the UFC has made a concerted effort to expand its presence in China, the world's most-populous country with more than 1.3 billion residents. That endeavor includes the launch of the Chinese version of "TUF," the long-running reality competition series that served as the launching pad for the promotion's popularity boom in the U.S.

On Saturday the UFC hosts its second fight card in Macau, a special administrative region of China, with the UFC Fight Pass-streamed TUF China Finale (6:15 a.m. ET).

"These events are an investment in the Chinese market," UFC Asia Managing Director Mark Fischer says. "The cards and The Ultimate Fighter: China series are intended to really develop the sport and serve as a foundation for much bigger growth in the future. I think that's what we're achieving here."

As with any country, success in China will come easier if the nation has a hero to cheer on. Fischer, a former NBA-Asia executive, says the league really took off in the country with the arrival of Chinese center Yao Ming in 2002.

So far, though, the country's centuries-old link to traditional martial arts hasn't necessarily translated to MMA success. But Le thinks that the entire Asian market is primed to deliver quality fighters. He points to such high-quality training centers as Hong Kong's Epic MMA, Singapore's Evolve MMA, and Thailand's Phuket Top Team and AKA Thailand as further proof.

"I think the culture will accept it because it's very rich in traditional martial arts, and they'll realize that this is the evolution," Le says. "When you see guys kicking, punching, throwing takedowns and all kinds of different moves, they're going to be into it. Obviously the first season of TUF: China did pretty decent (TV ratings). People were interested."

Fischer says a second season, available in more than 300 million Chinese homes, is already in the works. Beyond Saturday's event, which features the welterweight tournament final of TUF: China, plus a main event between Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (18-2-1 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Englishman John Hathaway (17-1, 7-1), UFC officials have announced a planned return to Macau in August.

Fischer says a card in mainland China is possible next year.

"We've done a lot of work to establish a foundation," Fischer says. "Now we just need to go on to the next phase and try to capitalize on that. It will still take more investment over the next few years, but the return could be phenomenal in a market this big.

"The coverage is growing steadily in China. It's starting to reach that critical mass where you light a spark, get a fire started and watch it take off."